The Pause That Refreshes

Matt is enroute to Okinawa for the first half of his Spring Break. There's a track meet Saturday followed by three days of stretching out on a beach with some of his friends and their coach who, like most coaches, is something of a saint. Between the track team and play rehearsals, Matt is enjoying himself immensely these days. I am glad we came back to Japan for his senior year and thankful the Ancient Mariner was willing to make the sacrifices required to allow this to happen.

My computer has been gathering dust for the past couple of weeks because I've been trying to catch a glimpse of every cherry tree in bloom between here and Tokyo. I'll either be posting a lot of pictures in the next few days or mowing the lawn, but most probably the former since I can't get the lawn mower started (much to my neighbor's dismay).



Thanks to intermittent blasts of unseasonably cold weather the past three weeks, this year's cherry blossom season has been unusually long. No one has been able to explain to me how those fragile wisps managed to cling to their branches through torrential downpours and typhoon-force gusts of wind but I've been too busy feasting my senses on nature's magnificence to bother trying to unravel its mysteries.

Oh, and I've also been busy reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, a book I recommend highly unless you (a) suffer from an overly vivid imagination, and (b) anticipate spending several nights alone in a somewhat deserted neighborhood during Spring Break. Excuse me while I check behind the shower curtains and lock the doors and windows.